Shapes that Haunt the Dusk
Public-domain ebook
Shapes that Haunt the Dusk
Language: en8,358 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Short Stories
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #27352.
About this book
Shapes that Haunt the Dusk is a collection of American short stories assembled by Harper’s Novelettes and edited by William Dean Howells and Henry Mills Alden. The volume opens with a sweeping essay that praises the nation’s talent for weaving “filmy textures” into tales that hover between experience and illusion, then launches into Georg Schock’s Christmas‑night narrative. In that story, a moonlit farm on the eve of December 24th becomes a stage for quiet dread: a sleeping man, a restless woman slipping into the cold barn, and a chorus of animal sounds that hint at something ominous beyond the ordinary. The opening scene is rendered in precise, atmospheric detail, establishing a mood of lingering suspense without revealing the story’s resolution.
The prose reflects the late‑nineteenth‑century American literary style, marked by a formal yet vivid diction that balances realism with a subtle supernatural undercurrent. Readers who appreciate finely crafted, mood‑driven tales, especially those interested in early American gothic sensibilities, regional folklore, and the interplay of ordinary life with uncanny occurrences, will find this anthology rewarding. Its blend of literary ambition and eerie storytelling appeals to fans of classic short fiction and to anyone drawn to the quiet terror that lingers at the edge of everyday perception.
Opening lines
Shapes that Haunt the Dusk Harper's Novelettes EDITED BY WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS AND HENRY MILLS ALDEN Harper & Brothers Publishers New York and London Copyright, 1891, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1905, 1906, 1907, by Harper & Brothers . All rights reserved. GEORG SCHOCK THE CHRISTMAS CHILD RICHARD RICE THE WHITE SLEEP OF AUBER HURN HOWARD PYLE IN TENEBRAS MADELENE YALE WYNNE THE LITTLE ROOM HARRIET LEWIS BRADLEY THE BRINGING OF THE ROSE HILDEGARDE HAWTHORNE PERDITA M. E. M. DAVIS AT LA GLORIEUSE F. D. MILLET A FADED SCAPULAR E. LEVI BROWN AT THE HERMITAGE H. W. McVICKAR THE REPRISAL Introduction The writers of American short stories, the best short stories in the world, surpass in nothing so much as in their handling of those filmy textures which clothe the vague shapes of the borderland between experience and illusion. …
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